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Matilda (character)
Matilda Wormwood is the main protagonist in the novel Matilda as well as the film adaptation. In the film, she is played by Mara Wilson at her current age, and by Sara Magdalin during her 4-year-old flashbacks. . She is five years old in the novel, but six and a half in the film. She attends Crunchem Hall Primary School (Crunchem Hall Elementary School in the film). Personality and traits Matilda is a very intelligent young girl loves reading books. She does not mind television like her family does. When she was four years old, she went to the library and started reading books for hours and days. Despite her young age, she has eventually started reading books leveled for people older than her age. Her favorite author is Charles Dickens, and her favorite book is The Red Pony by John Steinbeck in the novel, but Moby Dick by Herman Melville in the film. She has the ability to calculate math problems with her brain and not need to use a calculator. She has the ability to turn the table on others who have been mean to her, including her family and the Trunchbull; in which she has telekinetic powers to cause objects to move by themselves. At the end of the novel, her powers drained away after writing a message on the blackboard by pretending it was her teacher Miss Honey's late father Magnus; but in the film, she still has her powers in the end, but doesn't need it as much as she used to. Relationships with others *'Wormwood Family:' Matilda's biological family who has always been negligent to her from her lifetime. She is displeased with her father Harry's job as a used car salesman at Wormwood Motors, in which he sells customers hideous old cars that are unreliable. Her mother Mrs. Wormwood ("Zinnia" in the film only) is an unemployed bingo player who loves to dye her hair blonde using Platinum Blonde Hair-Dye Extra Strong (in the film, it was simply referred to Peroxide). She also punished her father by putting some of her mother's hair-dyeing product into her father's bottle of hair tonic labeled as Oil of Violets; and by putting superglue into his hat. Her father also tore her favorite book from the library The Red Pony (Moby Dick in the film) into shreds and referred to it as "trash". Her older brother Michael was a more-or-less ordinary boy in the novel; but in the film, he is a jerk who loves to throw food at her and nickname her as "dipface". Her family was also envious of her when she could solve difficult problems at her young age. When her family was deciding to move to Spain (Guam in the film), she was unhappy to move and enjoyed her hometown (United Kingdom in the novel, United States in the film). *'Miss Honey:' Matilda's nice and gentle teacher of Crunchem Hall. Miss Honey appears to care about Matilda more than the other adults. Miss Honey also invited her to her cottage and to tell a story about herself when she used to live in the mansion that became the Trunchbull's before moving out after losing her parents (in the film, Miss Honey told Matilda about a young girl who used to live in the masion and then later reveal that the little girl was Miss Honey, herself). In the end, Miss Honey adopted Matilda in the film (in the novel, Matilda just stayed with her forever). *'Miss Trunchbull:' The headmistress of Crunchem Hall, and also Matilda's worst enemy. At one point, the Trunchbull locked Matilda into the Chokey after revealing that Harry was a cheater (in the novel, the Trunchbull did not lock Matilda into the Chokey). Matilda also caused the glass with the newt to tip over and cause the newt to scare Miss Trunchbull. Matilda also terrified the Trunchbull by causing the lights in the mansion to flicker until they blew out at that point, and by sending the painting of the Trunchbull into the fireplace and causing shot puts to fall down the stairs, and Miss Honey's father Magnus's portrait would hang back on the wall above the fireplace (in the novel, Matilda did not go to the mansion to terrify the Trunchbull). She and the other students finally eliminated her by throwing their food and water balloons at her in the film (in the book, the Trunchbull simply fainted). *'Lavender:' Matilda's best friend at Crunchem Hall. *'Mrs. Phelps:' A librarian at the local library. In the novel, Mrs. Phelps once asked Matilda if her mother walks her to the library, but after Matilda's response about her mother playing bingo while Matilda just goes there by herself, Mrs. Phelps didn't believe her; however the film did not mention whether or not Mrs. Phelps asked Matilda if her mother brings her to the library or not. Category:Characters Category:Matilda